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This chapter suggests that although the Highlands were being penetrated by prospectors and missionaries in the 1930s, from early in 1935, entry was restricted up to the time of the invasion of Japan, which was felt more in the extreme eastern sector than in other inland parts. Gradually, administration posts were established, and after the war, the official intention was to bring all of the Highlands under the government control of Australia. At that time, interdistrict fighting was the norm. To ensure that a modicum of order was maintained, a “native police” post was first established at...

This chapter suggests that although the Highlands were being penetrated by prospectors and missionaries in the 1930s, from early in 1935, entry was restricted up to the time of the invasion of Japan, which was felt more in the extreme eastern sector than in other inland parts. Gradually, administration posts were established, and after the war, the official intention was to bring all of the Highlands under the government control of Australia. At that time, interdistrict fighting was the norm. To ensure that a modicum of order was maintained, a “native police” post was first established at Kemiyu in 1949, and then at Moiife. The formally “controlled” area, except in the immediate vicinity of Kainantu and Raipinka, was pervaded by an atmosphere of uneasy “peace.” Many villages had not then been visited by Europeans. That, roughly, was the situation which people faced in Kainantu. However, that was yet to come.